New Delhi, Aug 23 : Anna Hazare has hogged the limelight in the virtual
world. However it's no longer just voices in support of the elderly
leader and his movement -- there has been a steady rise of those
opposing it as well.

On social networking site Facebook for instance, a group named "I hate Anna Hazare" has registered 2,301 supporters.

Wrote Vijayan Kallil, one of the supporters: "The Jan Lokpal bill will
create a totalitarian monster in the name of fighting corruption. It
must never be passed."

"Do not take to violence. If you do, the government will crush you. The government is very powerful," Hazare told a large crowd at the Ramlila ground here on the eighth day of his fast in support of a strong Lokpal bill.

Non-violence, he said, "is a very powerful weapon".

"This is the reason the government has not been able to crush us so far," he said.

Be it old slogans with a twist, new catchphrases, witty one-liners or poetry, the Anna Hazare anti-corruption movement suddenly seems to be inspiring the common person take a shot at protest literature.

New Delhi, Aug 23 : The government has called an all-party meeting Wednesday to discuss and evolve a wider consensus on Anna Hazare's Lokpal bill demands, sources said Tuesday.

The sources from various political parties confirmed that the government has convened the meeting Wednesday afternoon to find a way to break the stand-off with the anti-corruption crusader whose fast entered its eighth day Tuesday.

New Delhi, Aug 23 : With Anna Hazare's fast at Ramlila Maidan here entering its eighth day Tuesday, hundreds of foreign and Indian journalists are spending hours at the sprawling grounds, reporting every single development of his protest for a stronger anti-corruption bill.

Demanding a Jan Lokpal bill that brings the prime minister, the higher judiciary and the conduct of MPs inside parliament within the ambit of a Lokpal (ombudsman), Hazare has been fasting since Aug 16. Initially arrested, he has continued with his fast at Ramlila ground since Friday.

New Delhi, Aug 23 : Activist Anna Hazare has lost around 5.5 kg as his fast for a strong anti-graft bill entered its eighth day here Tuesday, an aide said.

"He (Anna Hazare) has lost a total of around 5.5 kg since he began his fast… his blood pressure is 124/82 and the pulse rate is 84. But he is feeling good," Hazare's confidante Manish Sisodia told reporters.

"Doctors are regularly monitoring him and as of now there is no need to hospitalise him. His condition is stable," added Sisodia.

New Delhi, Aug 22 : A day after Anna Hazare's call 'Lao ya Jao' (Enact the bill or go) triggered a row, Team Anna clarified Monday that it was not seeking to oust the Congress-led government.

"Our aim is not to topple the government," Hazare confidant and Right To Information activist Arvind Kejriwal said at the Ramlila ground where the fast by the civil society leader for a strong Lokpal bill entered the seventh day.

Swami Agnivesh, another aide of Hazare, spoke on similar lines earlier.

Addressing a large gathering at the ground, he said Hazare and his associates were not against any one political party.

New Delhi, Aug 20 : Social activist Arvind Kejriwal Saturday urged the parliamentary standing committee looking into the Lokpal Bill to reject the government's bill, saying it will only waste time on it.

Kejriwal said at the Ramlila Ground, where Anna Hazare is continuing his fast against corruption, that the government's Lokpal Bill will only protect the corrupt.

New Delhi, Aug 20 : A day after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentarian Varun Gandhi said he will move the Jan Lokpal bill of Team Anna as a private member's bill in parliament, Anna Hazare's aide Arvind Kejriwal said it will just be symbolic in nature.

"The private member's bill actually dosen't mean much. It's more symbolic in nature that the particular member supports the cause," said Kejriwal, a member of Team Anna.

Chennai, Aug 20 : A group of protesters here continued its fast in support of activist Anna Hazare's hunger-strike for a stronger Lokpal bill for the fifth day Saturday.

According to India Against Corruption (IAC), the outfit which is supporting Hazare in his anti-corruption campaign, the total number of people on indefinite fast has increased to 41 and those on relay fast to five.

"The group which has been fasting since Tuesday has gone without food for over 100 hours," an IAC statement said here.

Although the Manmohan Singh government has been battered and bruised by its inept handling of civil society activists, the latter's claim of being harbingers of a second independence movement has also begun to wear thin.

New Delhi, Aug 20 : Signs of continuous fast for the past four days might have started showing on his face, but anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare is relentless in his spirit. On the fifth day of his fast Saturday, he said he'll "not give up".

"I have lost 3.5 kg over the past four days... but there is nothing to worry," the Gandhian said, as the crowd of supporters at the Ramlila ground in central Delhi cheered.

"I will not give up... we will keep fighting until we get the Jan Lokpal bill passed," he added.